Mind Games
by Doubleplusgoodduckspeaker
Summary: I am forever. Would you like to play a game?
1. One

Title: Mind Games

Author: Doubleplusgoodduckspeaker

Summary: I am forever. Would you like to play a game?

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Notes: The spirit of the Ring is rather psychotic in this. He's the one talking, in case you don't pick up on it right away. Enjoy this strange piece while I try and finish my Rivalshipping for the Contest.

* * *

You had absolutely no idea what you were getting yourself into.

It looked innocent enough, like jewelry. Some people say that every piece of jewelry has a story. That you can trace that story back to the person who made it. But how could you have known the story of the Ring before it landed at your doorstep? That this was more than a simple Ancient Egyptian artifact?

It was much more. The story surrounding the Millennium Ring is not for children's bedtime stories.

_Nightmares_.

The night is called so because of the absence of light. And in the darkness, that is where I am. Too late, you discovered that not only did you receive the Ring, you got me as well.

Just one touch doomed you.

Surprised? _Scared_?

You should be.

You've seen a mere taste of what I can accomplish. That's right, landlord. But wasn't this what you wanted? You like playing games. You should be happy. Those _were_ your friends…now you can play games with your friends forever.

_I_ am forever. Would you like to play a game?

I'm sure you can pick up the rules fairly quickly. I'll be patient, for now.

How rude. Instead of hearing me out, you turned and ran from me, and escaped from the room where I'm positive there wasn't a door before. How interesting. Maybe you're stronger than I gave you credit for. But in your escape, this means that you are truly abandoning this part of your soul to _me_, to the _darkness_…

These accommodations are more than acceptable. All the same, I want to see yours next.

Your room is separated from my new acquisition by a small hallway, and how disappointing, the door isn't even locked. I step inside. The light is faint, and dwindling. I can't find you, but that doesn't mean I'll stop trying. It's all a part of the game.

I finally turn and there you are, huddled in the darkest corner. Your face is to the wall, I'm not sure you know I'm here yet. I suppose you could have done better in choosing your hiding spot, your last stand so to speak, but you were in a hurry. My fault. I'm not exactly known to play fair.

You're shivering. Is it cold, or is it me? I laugh, and you _know_, and there is pain written across your face. You know nothing of pain.

…

…

…

…

…Yet. For the story of the Ring is a story of pain, and the next chapter will be written about you. My laugh overshadows your scream, and… I win.

I like playing games.

What you have to remember about playing games, Ryou, is that eventually somebody has to win.

* * *

The most twisted game of hide-and-seek ever. Since writing _Memento_, I've become fascinated with the concept of soul rooms, so this is Ryou's. It's interesting I hope, and I apologize for the shortness of this. _Please leave a review_ to share your thoughts!


	2. Two

Basically the events from Chapter One, but this time, it's in Bakura Ryou's perspective. Thanks also to everyone who reviewed Chapter One.

* * *

…

…

It was… a ring.

Not the sort of ring one would wear on their finger, but it was large and made of metal. It was connected to a cord; obviously meant to be worn as a pendant around the neck.

It looked almost …pretty? Harmless enough. It shone as if brand new, even though it was said to be from ancient Egypt. It must have taken a long time to make.

I reached out to it. How was I to know that one touch would doom me?

I had no idea what would happen.

"W-what are you?"

I was not alone anymore; beside the ring stood a man. From his hair to his shoes, he looked exactly like me. He directed an appraising, calculated smile at me, as if saying _the wait was over at last_.

What was happening? Was this what they talked about when people mentioned _consciences, angels or __**devils**_—

"Devil is the closest thing to what I really am," and his voice was like mine, too, but different somehow.

His image appeared to flicker, as if he was not quite all there, and I felt my eyes roll back as my body gave up.

… … …

There was nothing.

Yet there I was.

"We are in your mind. Really, it is our mind now."

It was _him_, devil, the one who came out of the ring—

"One might say it was fate that drew me to you," he mused, and as his mouth opened his teeth looked like daggers. "The Ring is yours now, and with it, you get me. I am a part of you—for all intents and purposes I am…_us_."

It's too dark to see anything but I can hear him laughing to himself and I think: _dangerous_.

"Why are you so scared? Power is nothing to be frightened of, and I can give you that. Yes…landlord. I'll show you a taste of what I can do. Consider it… an advance, of sorts." (_not like I had a choice, ever had a choice to begin with—_)

Images.

Like a horrid movie they played out before me. _(Us)_

_Shyly, hesitantly: "Would you like to play with me…?"_

"_Sure!"_

"_I like games. Here, let's play this one…"_

They were all my age. They were all my friends. Slowly, one by one, beginning with the one closest to me, they began to drop until they were all lying motionless upon the ground. They could have been asleep but for the looks of terror upon each of their faces.

It mirrored the look of terror upon my own. I killed them and it's all my fault; _stay away from me_. Nothing helped. They weren't getting up.

_If I could see I don't think I'd want to—_

"Stop it! What are you doing?"

The images disappeared, becoming once more a part of the mist, the void, _the_ _darkness_…

"Isn't this what you wanted? Now, you can play games with your friends forever."

_Confusion was replaced by doubt. Doubt gave rise to fear. Fear had no replacement. _

One second later, there was light. Like a moth, he stepped into it.

"_I_ am forever. Would you like to play a game?"

_**What have I done?**_

I don't want this. I don't want the Ring! _Get away_; I don't care what it takes—

The light disappeared, and in its place there was pain. Even though I could no longer see, I could feel—first there were pinpricks, giving way to white-hot stabs which made my head throb with every pulse. I could not stop it, and I had no idea where it was coming from. It felt like my mind was being ripped in two.

I had no choice.

The left side of the brain is where logic reigns supreme.

The right, fantasy.

_Forget that_. **This was chaos**. Where does chaos fall?

There was no separation between light and darkness; instead they were irrevocably twisted with no beginning or end to them. There was no me, and him, there was us, and it felt like if he said a word or took a step I would explode from the sheer force of it all. My lungs expanded and contracted painfully as my heart responded to this new threat.

Fight or flight.

Still, no matter which option I chose, **if** I forfeited his game **I** would **lose** it all—

In the darkness I turned and ran and my hands found the handle of a door.

I was out and inside another room, running blindly, fearfully, too much in a hurry to care about anything else except my own survival. It was pure instinct and adrenaline fueling every footstep.

There was light, yet there was no source. _Was it me—?_

I thought I was safe in this room. This was my mind, my soul; whatever the hell it was or had to be to keep me safe. As I kept running, new rooms within rooms seemed to keep appearing, creating themselves as I needed them.

Would he hurt me? Too easy for me to forget, on some level that _I was him_—

Footsteps.

I dropped to the ground, as close to the wall as I could—_cold, stone, no door this time to save me_—in my terror remembering that on the door there was no lock.

Was it Fate also that I lose to _this—?_

"You may call me Bakura."

My image, my mind, **my name**—?! Was there anything left of me that he hadn't taken as his own?

He laughed again, louder this time, and I know it's all over. I can't do much. I find my entire body spasming, every muscle twitching as my face contorts with pain. I can't do anything about it. I couldn't even save my friends.

"You know nothing of pain." The images came again, far worse this time, there was darkness, and sand, and fire, and _so many_ bodies, _all gone_, _**there is nobody left—**_

"Yet." He came closer to me, and looped the cord of the ring around my neck, around both of us, "For the story of the Ring is a story of pain, and the next chapter will be written about you."

I could see his eyes in the dim light of the room, and it was like a mirror. In his lenses the pictures started again, far worse this time, and I could see my own reflection within them.

_(… World without end….,)_

What he never let me forget about playing games was that eventually somebody has to lose.

…

…

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_Italics_**bold** overload for sure, but _please review_ to let me know what you thought! This is the last chapter for real, but I will be doing more soul room stories of other characters in the future. As always, thank you for reading.


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